cfp.english.upenn.edu

Plenary speakers:
Dr Paul Baker, Lancaster University
Dr Dawn Hadley, University of Sheffield
Professor Andrew Smith, University of Glamorgan

The development of masculinities as a distinctive area of research coincided with the prominence of identity politics in the 1990s and the growth of the fields of gender studies and queer theory, which spread across a variety of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. These developments not only have complicated our understanding of masculine norms but also raise questions about how these norms have been sustained and/or
transformed by various discourses, practices and texts, ranging from spectacular public interventions to everyday domestic performances. This conference aims to bring together established and emerging scholars across the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences in order to explore the significance of ideas of identity and identification in the contemporary study of masculinities. We hope and anticipate that the conference will encourage cross-fertilisation of methodologies and overlapping areas of study and analysis.

Topics may include (but are not restricted to) the list below.
• theorising masculinities
• masculine objects
• practising masculinities
• masculinities and femininities
• masculinities and class
• masculinities and race
• masculinities and sexuality
• masculinities and age
• masculinities and empire
• masculinities in film and photography
• masculinities in sport
• masculinities in literature and popular fiction
• masculinities in fine art
• domestic masculinities
• masculinities and the public sphere
• masculinities and violence
• cross-identifications, mis-identifications or counteridentifications.

Abstracts of no more than 250 words for 20 minute papers should be sent to the Conference Committee at conference.presentations05@hud.ac.uk by 16th April 2010
Proposals for PhD research posters/displays are also invited. Posters will be on display during the conference and there will be a dedicated session on one of the days.